My lovely Louisiana friend Skip and his cadre of bay area troubadours came through town last weekend and put on a gorgeous musical display at the Towne Lounge. Then, they stayed over at the rock hostel and we had a nice homemade blueberry pancake brunch in the morning. They were too polite to mention that they’d had blueberry pancakes the previous morning. If you like sparse, subdued and gorgeous music, I highly suggest you request a copy of their cd. It’s homemade and cheap! Here are some pictures I stole from Skip’s MySpace page…

Los Hellpetos del Norte.

El Estereo.

Yumminess, warmth and showers at the rock hostel.

Opening the show was Day of Lions (aka Gena) whose music was equally gorgeous! She lives here in Portland, not that you’d know it since she actually spends months at a time doing solitary solo tours around the country.

We played the middle slot at the Towne Lounge and, once again, generated as much fun as any band who sings about war and corruption. Frankly, I’m thinking of switching back to love songs. New Towne Lounge booker Chantelle Hylton was in attendance and told me that my band made her “want to go out more”. I chose to quit while I was ahead rather than ask for an explanation. Meanwhile, our two new albums continue to move copies thanks to cdbaby word of mouth. Check them out here and here!

Lastly, we’re finally planning another tour: a four-day affair into the rainy north with our pdx pals Curious Hands. More details to follow. And speaking of the rainy north, we’re invading the state of Washington, if just barely, next month as we open for Minmae at the 15th Street Pub in the ‘Couv.

I’ve seen quite a few kick-ass local shows lately. A delirious Per Se charmed the Doug Fir on the day Anne twisted her ankle, leaving her to hop precariously from one microphone to the next. At that same show, I had my senses slayed by the expanded lineup of The Sort-Ofs. My friend Chris Piuma of The Minor Thirds gave a hilarious poetry reading at the downtown Borders bookstore, one poem of which will probably be in the liner notes of my next album. Captain Bogg & Salty did their usual thing with their usual skill at Dante’s. Levi, bassist of Heroes and Villains, performed his debut solo set at Berbati’s Pan before being joined onstage by this H&V bandmates Adam and Scott (who I swear sounded just like George Hurley from the Minutemen). This was followed by the high-energy enthusiasm of Sounds Like Fun.

Welcome to the online home of Ross Beach, a songwriter, producer, audio engineer, radio DJ, and software developer living in Portland, Oregon. He's a co-founder and former President of the 501(c)(3) non-profit group PDX Pop Now! In his home state of Louisiana, he collaborated with the group of musicians known as the Elephant 6 collective, including stints with The Gerbils and Neutral Milk Hotel. He has written and recorded seventeen albums of music.